We got our I-171H Approval Today!!!

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Nellie and I are super excited, because in the mail today, and unannounced, was our I-171H form from the USCIS.  This is essentially the last big form we needed to compile our dossier.  We have employment verification letters that will be finished by tomorrow, and Health letters that will be finished on Thursday.  Essentially, all of our dossier documents will be at ECAS on Thursday.  I say unannounced because other blogs we have followed indicated the case worker sent emails  first to notify the case was being worked.  We received no word.  But God be praised.  We asked him for a very fast review.  We got ours approved in just 35 days. 

The timeline going forward looks something like this.  Hopefully, by Friday or Saturday, a visit to Fedex will occur, and our dossier will be on its way to Kiev to our lawyer, who will translate all documents to Ukrainian, and submit the dossier to SDAPRC.  This is the Ukrainian authority that oversees adoption placements.  Once the SDAPRC gets our application, it will likely be about three weeks before we hear when our appointment is scheduled to meet with them in Kiev.  I've heard of bloggers getting the letter for an appointment 3 weeks after, and I know another family that got a 6 day notice. 

Sometimes, families ask for a different appointment in the event of a very short notice.  We are prepared, however for either scenario.  The reason is two fold.  First, our kids, Anya and Artium are available for adoption right now.  Someone else could, in theory, come in and want the kids.  The sooner we get there, the sooner we get the referral, etc.  The 2nd reason is the now fading Adoption Moratorium vote.  It looks like the Ukraine Rada is working on a total rewrite of the legislation.  I know from US civics classes that this can take quite a long time.  But, why take chances?  We'll go at the very first opportunity.  Our daycare parents and my employer have already been apprised, and workarounds are already in place.

If we get only a 6 day notice, we are grabbing it.  All this means it is looking very likely that we'll be in Kiev in or by April. 

We'll blog next time about some of our preparations.  The travelers are Nellie, myself, Zach and Matthias.

We have had some waiting, but the peace of God has been with us.  Once our dossier is sent, we have some more waiting to endure.  But the hardest part is now nearly behind us.  Thanks for your many prayers. 

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